Dr. Antica Culina

My research interests are diverse, but mostly fall within: evolutionary and behavioural ecology, wildlife/habitat conservation, Open Science, and informed decision making. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about my work, ideas for collaborative projects, or if you think your group would benefit from a workshops on open practices or/and meta-analysis.

I am also actively advocating for diversity and equality in science. As a sole carer of a toddler, I have been experiencing many obstacles in managing my scientific career. I hope that being vocal about this can help in changing the current evaluation, expectation, and promotion systems in science, and encourage practices that accommodate those in less-common life-situations.

CV
NIOO Projects
Collaborations
Peer-reviewed publications
Popular-scientific publications

I currently hold VENI research fellowship at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology. Two main compoentnes of this fellowship are

Pair-bonds beyond the breeding season – a new approach to understanding divorce and fidelity using the power of Open Data
SPI-Birds Network & Database, where I act as a manager and co-ordinator

I am also activly working on several other projects related to open science and meta-science in ecology, use of meta-anlaysis for informed decision making, and probelms related to uncertainty inherent to observational data

During my undergrad and Masters at the Univeristy of Zagreb, I was also working as an ornithologist at BIOM - Croatian association for biological research and Croatian Institute of Ornithology, where I still hold research ties. I did my Masters thesis on the urban bird fauna, linking habitat traits of urban parks to the diveristy of breeding and wintering birds.

After that, I have done a DPhil at the Univerity of Oxford (2010-2015), on pair fidelity and divorce in monogmous species, followed by a postdoc position at the the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, University of Oxford (2015-2016). During this position, I have established scientific background for a project on life-history and population dynamics in bats. During my PhD I have developed an interest in the Open Science, and I have took up an exciting position at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology to lead a project on Open Science and Meta-Analysis in ecology and evolution.

Affiliations

Edward Grey Institute (University of Oxford), Research associate
FAIRsFAIR EU project, advisory board
Journal of Animal Ecology, associate editor
Society for Open Reliable Transparent Ecology and Evolutionary biology, Executive committee
Wildlife Research Conservation Unit (University of Oxford), Alumni
Open Knowledge Maps, scientific advisor
Go Fair Implementation Network - data discovery group
Research Data Alliance Europe

Scholarships, Grants and Awards

VENI research fellowship, personal grant (2018-2021)
RDA (research data alliance) EU Early Career support Programme for the RDA 9th Plenary (2017)
Conference travel grant, Welcome Trust, UK (2016)
Student scholarship, University of Oxford (2012-2014)
International Society for Behavioural Ecology student travel award (2014)
Wolfson College, University of Oxford, conference grant (2013, 2014)
Frankopan Fund Scholarship (2012)
Graduate Research Training and Support Grant, University of Oxford (2012)
City of Zagreb Student Scholarship (2005-2008)
The Ministry of Science Scholarship, Republic of Croatia (2004)

Invited talks and seminars

Fledgling meeting of the European Ornithological Union, Zagreb, Croatia (2020, Nov), plenary talk
Oxford Zoology Seminar Series, Oxford, UK (2020, April)
Wildlife Research and Conservation 2019, Berlin (2019): Uncovering population dynamic, habitat use, and life-history trade offs in bats and birds using capture recapture models
Open Science Conference, Berlin (2019): Low availability of code in ecology: call for urgent action.
NVG PhD Workshop, Egmond aan Zee (2018): What is Open Science and why practice it?
Cutting-Edge Ecology 2018: the science of the 21st century, NIOO-KNAW (2018): Think big: integrative approaches, open data and modern ecological research.
DANS Open Day on Open Science, Den Haag (2018): Open science and open data in ecological and evolutionary research.
Warsaw Seminar Series in Ecology & Evolution, University of Warsaw (2017): From pedigrees, through divorce, to microbes and CO2: how can fast growing data-landscape help ecological and evolutionary synthesis?
Open Science fair, Athens (2017): An Ecology and Evolution view of Open Science.
NIOO seminar series, NIOO-KNAW (2017): Navigating the unfolding data landscape in ecology and evolution.
Seminar series, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam (2017): From pedigrees, through divorce, to microbes and CO2: how can fast growing data-landscape help ecological and evolutionary synthesis?
Behavioural Ecology Group Seminar, Wageningen University (2016): How does divorce fit into the story of social monogamy - a bird's eye view.
Biological Anthropology Seminar Series, UCL Anthropology, University College London (2015): From meta-analysis to social networks: what have we learned about fidelity and divorce in socially monogamous species.
International Conference on Evolution and Behaviour, Zagreb, Croatia (2014): From meta-analysis to social networks: what have we learned about fidelity and divorce in socially monogamous species.
Wolfson college seminar series, Wolfson college, Oxford (2013): Social networks and divorce?

Organizing symposiums and workshops

Data Lifecycles for Open Ecological and Biodiversity Research, Biodiversity Next Conference. Leiden, Netherlands (2019)
Open Science Tools, Data and Technologies for efficient Ecological and Evolutionary research, symposium and workshops, Amsterdam, Netherlands (2018), initiator and organizer of the event, more about the here, and interview here
Transparent meta-analysis and use of open data workshop. Open Science Tools, Data and Technologies for efficient Ecological and Evolutionary research, Amsterdam, Netherlands (2017). slides here
Navigating the unfolding Open Data landscape in Ecology and Evolution. Workshop at the British Ecological Society Annual meeting 2017. Ghent, Belgium (2017), slides here
Transparent meta-analysis: a powerful tool for the researchers' toolbox. Workshop at the NIOO research days, Netherlands (2017)
Evolutionary biology and open science: practices, challenges and opportunities. ESEB meeting, Groningen, Netherlands (2017), slides here

Conference talks (non invited)

European Society for Evolutiary Bioogy meeting, Groningen, Netherlands (2017)
Evolution 2917, Portland (2017)
British Ecological Society Annual Meeting, Liverpool, UK (2016), slides here
Publishing Better Science through Better Data, Springer Nature, London, UK (2016): video of the talk here, slides here
Digital Infrastructures for Research Conference, Krakow, Poland (2016), slides here
XVth European Society for Evolutionary Ecology meeting, Lausanne, Switzerland (2015)
International Society for Behavioural Ecology conference, New York, USA (2014)
Animal Behaviour Society Conference, Princeton University, USA (2014)
1st Joint Congress on Evolutionary Biology, Ottawa, Canada (2012)

Outreach Activities

Do your D.A.N.C.E: Debunking sAme-sex aNimal prejudiCe and stereotypEs (2016) https://vimeo.com/129345008
It’s Everyone’s D.A.N.C.E: Debunking homosexuAl humaN prejudiCe & stereotypEs (2016) https://vimeo.com/131138049
The evolution of an alternative male mating strategy: Socialising with less attractive rivals (2012) http://vimeo.com/44808911
Winner of the Evolution 2012 Video contest by National Evolutionary Synthesis Center - NESCent
Science Slam Oxford: Cedric Tan: "Chicken sex: Variety is the spice of life" (2013) http://www.scienceoxford.com/live/whats-on-events/science-slam
Birds of British Isles, Oxford University Museum of Natural History (2011)

Open Science in Ecology and Evolution

Open Science is changing the way scientific research is conducted. Open Science includes open (i.e. available to anyone to access and use) data, code, publications, and review. Increase in Open Data is especially valuable for complex fields of Ecology and Evolution. This project seeks to: Bridge...Read more

Pair-bonds beyond the breeding season – a new approach to understanding divorce and fidelity using the power of Open Data

In animals, as in humans, not all individuals pair for life. Pair-bonds and their stability likely affect survival and reproduction and hence influence all major evolutionary and ecological processes. Yet, we are far from understanding why some pairs persist while others do not, and how this...Read more

SPI-Birds

We are a network of researchers working on populations of breeding, individually marked birds. On this website, you can learn more about our work, search for populations of birds across Eurasia, and request data for these populations.Read more

My collaborative network consists of several main clusters:

1) evolutionary ecology research cluster

2) SPI-Birds cluster (130 collaborators)

3) meta-science and Open Science cluster

2020

Culina, A., Adriaensen, F., Bailey, L. D., Burgess, M. D., Charmantier, A., Cole, E. F., Eeva, T., Matthysen, E., Nater, C. R., Sheldon, B. C., Sæther, B. E., Vriend, S. J. G., Zajkova, Z., Adamík, P., Aplin, L. M., Angulo, E., Artemyev, A., Barba, E., Barišić, S.,... Visser, M. E. (2020). Connecting the data landscape of long-term ecological studies: The SPI-Birds data hub. Journal of Animal Ecology, in press. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13388
Culina, A., Firth, J. A., & Hinde, C. A. (2020). Familiarity breeds success: pairs that meet earlier experience increased breeding performance in a wild bird population. Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 287, [20201554]. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.1554
Culina, A., van den Berg, I., Evans, S., & Sánchez-Tójar, A. (2020). Low availability of code in ecology: A call for urgent action. PLoS Biology, 18(7), [e3000763]. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000763

2019

Culina, A., & Garroway, C. J. (2019). Bats use social information within and across species. Journal of Animal Ecology, 88(10), 1444-1446. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13093
Culina, A., Linton, D. M., Pradel, R., Bouwhuis, S., & Macdonald, D. W. (2019). Live fast, don't die young: survival reproduction trade‐offs in long‐lived income breeders. Journal of Animal Ecology, 88(5), 746-756. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12957
Ramakers, J. J. C., Culina, A., Visser, M. E., & Gienapp, P. (2019). Reply to: More evidence is needed to show that heritability and selection are not associated. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 3, [1408(2019)]. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-0991-2

2018

Ramakers, J. J. C., Culina, A., Visser, M. E., & Gienapp, P. (2018). Environmental coupling of heritability and selection is rare and of minor evolutionary significance in wild populations. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 2, 1093-1103. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0577-4
Culina, A., Crowther, T. W., Ramakers, J. J. C., Gienapp, P., & Visser, M. E. (2018). How to do meta-analysis of open datasets: comment. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 2, 1053-1056. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0579-2
Culina, A., Baglioni, M., Crowther, T. W., Visser, M. E., Woutersen-Windhouwer, S., & Manghi, P. (2018). Navigating the unfolding open data landscape in ecology and evolution. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 2, 420-426. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0458-2
Firth, J. A., Cole, E. F., Ioannou, C. C., Quinn, J. L., Aplin, L. M., Culina, A., McMahon, K., & Sheldon, B. C. (2018). Personality shapes pair bonding in a wild bird social system. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 2, 1696-1699. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0670-8
Ngo, T. T. N., Senior, A. M., Culina, A., Santos, E. S. A., Vlak, J. M., & Zwart, M. (2018). Quantitative analysis of the dose–response of white spot syndrome virus in shrimp. Journal of Fish Diseases, 41(11), 1733-1744. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfd.12877

2017

Culina, A., Linton, D. M., & Macdonald, D. W. (2017). Age, sex, and climate factors show different effects on survival of three different bat species in a woodland bat community. Global Ecology and Conservation, 263-271. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2017.11.009
Culina, A. (2017). Testing for complex drivers of resource utilisation: A case-study of roost dynamics in bats. Basic and Applied Ecology, 28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2017.10.001

2016

Crates, R. A., Firth, J. A., Farine, D. R., Garroway, C. J., Kidd, L. R., Aplin, L. M., Radersma, R., Milligan, N. D., Voelkl, B., Culina, A., Verhelst, B. L., Hinde, C. A., & Sheldon, B. C. (2016). Individual variation in winter supplementary food consumption and its consequences for reproduction in wild birds. Journal of Avian Biology, 47(5), 678-689. https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.00936

2015

Culina, A., Shoji, A., Aris-Brosou, S., Fayet, A., Kirk, H., Padget, O., Juarez-Martinez, I., T., N., Boyle, D., Perrins, C. M., & T., G. (2015). Breeding phenology and winter activity predict subsequent breeding success in a trans-global migratory seabird. Biology Letters. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0671
Culina, A., Hinde, C. A., & Sheldon, B. C. (2015). Carry-over effects of the social environment on future divorce probability in a wild bird population. Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 282(1817). https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.0920
Culina, A., Aplin, L. M., Firth, J. A., Farine, D. R., Voelkl, B., Crates, R. A., Garroway, C. J., Hinde, C. A., Kidd, L. R., Psorakis, I., Milligan, N. D., Radersma, R., & Verhelst, B. L. (2015). Consistent individual differences in the social phenotypes of wild great tits (Parus major). Animal Behaviour. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2015.07.016
Culina, A., Lachish, S., & Sheldon, B. C. (2015). Evidence of a link between survival and pair fidelity across multiple tit populations. Journal of Avian Biology, 46(5), 507-515. https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.00661
Psorakis, I., Voelkl, B., Garroway, C. J., Radersma, R., Aplin, L. M., Crates, R. A., Culina, A., Farine, D. R., Firth, J. A., Hinde, C. A., Kidd, L. R., Milligan, N. D., Roberts, S. J., Verhelst, B., & Sheldon, B. C. (2015). Inferring social structure from temporal data. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 69(5), 857-866. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-015-1906-0
Farine, D. R., Firth, J. A., Aplin, L. M., Crates, R. A., Culina, A., Garroway, C. J., Hinde, C. A., Kidd, L. R., Milligan, N. D., Psorakis, I., Radersma, R., Verhelst, B., Voelkl, B., & Sheldon, B. C. (2015). The role of social and ecological processes in structuring animal populations: a case study from automated tracking of wild birds. Royal Society Open Science, 2(4). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.150057
Culina, A., Radersma, R., & Sheldon, B. C. (2015). Trading up: the fitness consequences of divorce in monogamous birds. Biological Reviews, 90(4), 1015-1034. https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12143

2013

Culina, A., Lachish, S., Pradel, R., Choquet, R., & Sheldon, B. C. (2013). A multievent approach to estimating pair fidelity and heterogeneity in state transitions. Ecology and Evolution, 3(13), 4326-4338. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.729
Culina, A., Mikulic, K., Budinski, I., & Jurinovic, L. (2013). The return of the Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni as a breeding bird to Croatia. Acrocephalus, 34(156/157), 71-74.

2010

Culina, A., Budinski, I., Mikulic, K., & Jurinovic, L. (2010). Bird species that have significantly changed breeding range on Croatian coastal area: comparison of 30 years old data and recent knowledge. Bird Census News. http://www.ebcc.info/art-4/

2020

Culina, A., & Visser, M. E. (2020). Combining data helps birds and bird research. Phys. https://phys.org/news/2020-11-combining-birds-bird.amp
Culina, A. (2020). How I managed my work and personal life as a sole parent during the pandemic. (Nature). https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-02329-x
Culina, A., & Visser, M. E. (2020). When a shared vision becomes a reality: Connecting Data on individually marked birds. Animal ecology in focus. https://animalecologyinfocus.com/2020/11/18/when-a-shared-vision-becomes-a-reality-connecting-data-on-individually-marked-birds/

2018

Culina, A. (2018). How I opened up towards Open Science: Data Dialogues. (Data Dialogues). Springer Nature. https://go.nature.com/2GWOIde
Culina, A. (2018). Navigating the Open Data landscape in Ecology and Evolution – lets make it work: Behind the paper. (Nature Ecology & Evolution Community: Behind the paper)). https://natureecoevocommunity.nature.com/channels/521-behind-the-paper/posts/30414-navigating-the-open-data-landscape-in-ecology-and-evolution-lets-make-it-work
Culina, A. (2018). Open Science and the long-tail of scientists work: Let’s bridge the gap. ZWB Mediatalk. https://www.zbw-mediatalk.eu/2018/02/open-science-und-der-long-tail-der-wissenschaft-lasst-uns-die-luecke-ueberbruecken/

Internet search

Dr. Antica Culina

Postdoc

Animal Ecology

Research themes
Eco-evolutionary dynamics

Research expertise
Open Science
birds
data standards
demographic rates
life-history
mating systems
meta-analysis
systematic review
transparency

Scholarships, Grants and Awards

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2013

2010

2020

2018

Contact

Contact Form

Internet search

Dr. Antica Culina

Postdoc

Animal Ecology

Research themesEco-evolutionary dynamics

Research expertiseOpen Sciencebirdsdata standardsdemographic rateslife-historymating systemsmeta-analysissystematic reviewtransparency

Scholarships, Grants and Awards

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2013

2010

2020

2018

Contact

Contact Form

Research themes
Eco-evolutionary dynamics

Research expertise
Open Science
birds
data standards
demographic rates
life-history
mating systems
meta-analysis
systematic review
transparency